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Episode 2: Darkness Beneath the Hill + Episode 3: Servants of the Lake
The investigators start outside the Winscott house and don’t find anything particularly suspicious, there are the footprints leading from the house to the woods but unfortunately the tracks are lost. They enter the home and go down to the basement where a section of the North wall is missing, bricks and mortar removed, leading to a dark tunnel. There are more of the three-toed tracks leading into the tunnel so the investigators and Josh Winscott go on in. They notice phosphorescent lichen lighting the way, attached to the wall in a way that appears artificial or man-made. As they proceed down the tunnel, they come to some human skeletal remains, likely from the Colonial time period. They turn down the tunnel and enter an enormous chamber lit by the lichen. Here, the walls are covered with ancient carvings, and Nevada realizes they are far older than even the oldest known cave paintings yet far more advanced than that primitive art. There are serpent designs repeated with what appear to dinosaurs and worshipping a central deity, as well as geometric art and designs. The investigators also discover, balled up in a corner, crumpled pages of some type of journal, chronicling the formation of the caverns in their mission to repopulate the Serpent People and restore Mu. They also note success in locating De Vermiis Mysteriis to summon their god Yig, the Father of Serpents. It also mentions being contacted by another Serpent Sorcerer in South Carolina, with a need to contact someone named Caleb Gist. The investigators come to a 20 foot cliff and they climb down, but Nevada, perhaps affected by his discovery in the previous cave, slips and falls to the ground, suffering a major wound and becoming unconscious. He is stabilized by Dr Fitzgerald. The next chamber they come upon features a morbid pipe organ of sorts, with bronze and crystal pipes with some ending in spikes upon which human heads are impaled. Distressingly, these heads appear to be partially alive, singing a soft whispering song. They are beset by two Ghasts but fortunately are able to kill them before becoming injured. Continuing on, they encounter the likely source of the lichen, a large plantation room with fungal “trees” and mists, being tended to by several skittish Serpent People who run away when approached and otherwise seem to be minding their own business and not disturbed by the presence of the investigators. The next room features an enormous serpentine statue, with a large, dirty altar and incense-burning candles in front. There are more Serpent People scrubbing the altar, possibly contaminated by blood, when Lauren is beset with a vision with snakes cascading out of the statue’s mouth and surrounding the party. However, no other members see this and upon speaking to her, she comes out of the trance. Moving out of the statue room, they choose to go left down a tunnel to a nursery of sorts, with embryonic pods hanging from the ceiling, but they are left alone. They return to the tunnel, going right, and entering a sophisticated laboratory type of area with arcane alchemical equipment, a large bronze gong, and shelves with several scrolls and books. There is also bedding, a hot spring, and three juvenile Serpent People locked in a cage. The investigators spy another Serpent, this time dressed in a red robe, conducting some sort of experiments. They try to snatch the books, which they suspect includes De Vermiis Mysteriis, the Serpent sees them, and is able to summon several Ghasts to prevent their escape. They are dispatched easily, and with some quick-thinking, the investigators are able to ascend the cliff and emerge back at the Winscott house. Once back to safety, Josh Winscott appears to suffer a mental break, his mind unable to handle the revelations found below. He screams and mutters incoherently and tries to run away, but is stopped by a gunshot by Alexandria who remembers their need for transportation. Josh couldn’t care less about such mundane things, giving the investigators the car, the house, the cash, and anything else they want. The investigators and Josh drive back to Kingsport and spend the night at their B&B. They ask the kindly Ethel Bullock if she knows of a hospital where Nevada can obtain medical care, and she points them towards Danversport, about a one hour drive away. Because of this, and with Alexandria and Lauren’s eagerness to continue searching for James Frazer, both Josh and Nevada decide to stay, waiting for their original vehicle to be repaired and then proceed on to the Danversport hospital. Harry, Alexandria, and Lauren arrive at Squatters Lake Motel, a somewhat worn motel just next to Squatters Lake and surrounded by hemlock trees. There are several vehicles in the parking lot and canoes nearby. Of note, Harry finds a set of tire tracks that appear to go down into the water, but cannot see any vehicles in the water itself despite going for a brief swim. The trio enter the motel and are greeted by two British-sounding brothers, William and Robert Brophy. Robert is wheelchair-bound and doesn’t speak, but William describes the lodgings and lets a room to the investigators. They inquire if the Brophys have seen James Frazer recently, but they deny having met such a person. When asked to sign the guestbook, they easily see the last page missing and Alexandria becomes very suspicious, investigating the grounds for any trash can she can find to no avail. The ladies settle into the room while Harry goes searching the grounds, and they notice some scrapes on the floor and around the door frame leading under the carpet, which, when peeled back, reveals a trap door. They descend carefully and find there are similar trap doors to all of the rooms, but the room ends with a heavy door secured with a padlock. They hear a commotion outside and go back up to see a young, pimply man arguing with William about a missing person. After hearing this, they return to the locked room and Harry is able to pick the padlock, opening it to reveal a workshop with a wooden table with scratches and blood stains, upon which sit four fluid-filled jars and two filled with metallic needles or nails. Alexandria takes the jars. They also find boxes full of what appear to be former guests’ clothing and belongings, including some fine jewelry, and a table that has several leather restraints attached. After this disturbing revelation, the investigators go out to find and question the young man (Jacob Trent) who was arguing with William, thinking he is talking about Jason Frazer, but he is actually looking for someone named Abe. As it now appears multiple people are missing, Harry decides to confront the Brophys about this and question them about their workshop of horror downstairs. At first, the Brophys play innocent, but as the argument continues and gunfire is threatened, William suddenly begins chanting in a foreign tongue and most of the investigators are beset with a painful vision of an underwater city, with dark buildings, twisting avenues, and dead creatures with angular, shiny red carapaces. They are shocked back to reality and Alexandria, fed up with the lack of explanations, fires a shotgun at point-blank range, blowing William’s head off. With this, Robert begins screaming and cannot be stopped. The investigators are, however, able to hear a soft cry for help outside the motel and they rush out to see what is happening, leaving Alexandria inside to guard Robert. There is a young man being dragged towards the lake by two decrepit, old beings, zombie-like in appearance and manner, a man and a woman. Harry and Lauren fire at the man, killing him and the young man being dragged is able to escape, running towards the investigators. Then the lake near the shore begins to bubble and boil and three yellow, globe-shaped eyes appear from the water. Harry blows one off with his handgun, but the creature continues to emerge, seemingly metallic and covered in foot-long spines. With this, Harry becomes overwhelmed and yells to run back to the car. All the investigators, as well as the young man being dragged to the water, leap into the car and speed off. They find out this man is actually Jason Frazer and he is overjoyed to hear that his friend Felix and his girlfriend Emily are both safe and well. He says he can never repay them, but does offer them a tome titled “The Revelations of Gla’aki, Volume VI” as a sort of payment for rescuing him. What happens to the robed Serpent Person, as well as Robert Brophy, the zombie woman, and the metallic lake creature remains unknown as the investigators drive back to Arkham… But they have several new avenues of investigation, including the mysterious jars, a couple of mythic tomes, and fragments of the Serpent Person’s journal, as well as their increasing awareness of the horrific nature of reality thanks to their ghastly dreams and encounters with eldritch monsters…